Kim Ih-ja
Kim Ih-ja, known by her stage name Ella, is a South Korean idol, songwriter and actress under Galactic Entertainment, where she also works as the CEO of the company. She first debuted on 2014 as one of the members of the girl group Queen of Hearts formed by 6teen Entertainment. The group later became internationally popular through their single Feedback, which would later on mark their place in the K-pop industry. She later became a soloist, releasing the Forbidden Love mini-album, which attained great success in her home country. She would also star as major characters in K-dramas such as Idol School, #Whatever and A Love Untold. After Queen of Hearts' disbandment, she transferred to Galactic Entertainment where she would continue her solo activities and would be promoted to Chief Executive Officer after the former CEO, Lee Min-young, retired. History Birth and Early Life Kim Ih-ja was born in May 14, 1999 in Agpujeong, Gangnam into a middle-class family. Her father was an office worker while her mother was an owner of a flower shop. Her family has a long history and reputation of being musicians, with her aunt one of the first K-pop idols. At first, she didn't want to follow the family heritage, but soon realized that it was her passion, leading her to join numerous singing contests and eventually audition in a lesser known company known as 6teen Entertainment. Her father initially disapproved of his daughter's audition, but eventually allowed her to chase her dreams as long as she will take care of her health. 2013-2014: Rise to Stardom Entering 6teen Entertainment as a trainee, she would later on debut at the age of 14 as the lead vocalist and maknae in the girl band Queen of Hearts, under the stage name Ella. Garnering small attention at first, the band eventually made their breakthrough with their electropop single ''Feedback''. They would also debut in the Japanese music industry with the single Lovey Dovey, which was met by positive reviews and gained international popularity in Japan. In early 2014, Ih-ja's mother gave birth to twin baby girls, named Eun-ji and Ae-young. 2015: Solo career The next year, Ih-ja would pursue a solo career, leading to her unable to attend numerous concerts and fan events. On February 16, she released her solo debut mini-album Forbidden Love alongside the single Stay. She would also chase a career in acting, starring in numerous K-dramas in supporting roles. Her acting career would later slightly hurt the relations of Ih-ja and her company due to numerous schedule problems, which led her to miss the second Japanese comeback, which was the Cherry Pie ''era. The single, along with its album ''Queen of Hearts ~ Sweet ''was released on November 24. During that time, she was filming the web series ''Your Smile, starring as the main character Seo Ah-yeong. 2016-2017: Acting recognition Idol School, a K-drama series where numerous girls fight for contest to become an idol group, starred Ih-ja as the main character Jung Tae-yeon, where she first gained international recognition as an actress, gaining numerous accolades and awards related. She also starred in numerous K-dramas that also gained success, such as The Temptress as a young Tae-hee, the second season of #Whatever reprising her role as Lina Kim, drama movie A Love Untold as Li Eun-ji, and zombie-thriller drama Dead Trigger as Cho Min-ji. Later in 2016, she would return to Queen of Hearts as part of their next comeback, promoting their next single alongside her band members and temporaily halting her solo and acting endeavours. The group later released the single Ace alongside the extended play The Perfect Love, which earned modest success in their home country but gained international success as a group. The band would later on hold numerous concerts outside Korea, particularly in Thailand, Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan. In 2017, she resumed her acting career, starring as the tech-expert and geek Lee Eun-ji in i*ZONE, and later on playing the girl who doesn't believe in love, Park Ji-sun in Love You Until Forever. Afterwards, she assumed an acting hiatus, stating that she wants to take a break from the acting spotlight and wanting to spend time again with her other members in her band. 2018: Queen of Hearts' hiatus and later comeback On January 3rd of 2018, Queen of Hearts had a comeback with the R&B single Love Me, Leave Me after a few months of promotions, also releasing a second electropop single entitled Neon Lights the day after. Following a contract disagreement, some members of Queen of Hearts assumed a hiatus. A few weeks later, 6teen Entertainment officially announced the indefinite hiatus of Queen of Hearts due to lack of active members, resulting in public backlash of fans against the said company. Ih-ja would later return to acting after this, playing the role of the legendary Gumiho under the guise of Kang Shi-yeon in the blockbuster movie and cultural hit Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox. On August 21st, Ih-ja formed a business contract with Galactic Entertainment. while still maintaining relations with 6teen Entertainment. On the label, she released her second eponymous mini-album named Ella which achieved modest success in her home country. Afterwards, she starred in the supernatural-horror drama The Other as Choi Ji-won, whose family has a long history of being associated with a demonic entity named the Other. After a promotional teaser of Ih-ja with another member of Queen of Hearts, rumors spread that the band will regroup and come back again. This became true, as on December 6th the band came back with the digital single Butterfly and alongside with it, she released an extended play entitled Empress. The group would later be promoting the album for 3 weeks. 2019 '- present: Queen of Hearts' disbandment and Galactic Ent. agreement' Ih-ja, along with the other members of Queen of Hearts, decided not to renew their 6-year contract with 6teen Entertainment. On January 1st, Queen of Hearts released their last single Until, which gained over 90M views on YouTube. 6teen Entertainment later announced that they were officially disbanding two weeks after the release. After the group's disbandment band, its members went on separate ways, with Ih-ja completely transferring to Galactic Entertainment and would later be elected to the position of Chief Executive Officer after the retirement of Lee Min-young, a co-founder of the company. Artistry Ih-ja's musical style is mainly categorized as pop until her solo debut album Forbidden Love in 2015, where she added R&B and ballad to her style. She is also versatile in genres, performing hip hop, reggae, and even soul music with relative ease. Her experience in the industry has earned her the name "Queen of Music" for her sheer versatility and power. Ih-ja is rumored to have a 3-octave vocal range. Discography See: Ella/Discography Dramas Ih-ja started her acting career back in 2015, auditioning and usually getting supporting roles. It was during the 2016-2017 era where she got her first main roles as the idol hopeful Jung Tae-yeon in Idol School and the broken-hearted girl Park Ji-sun in Love You Until Forever, where she was internationally recognized for her great acting capabilities and received numerous awards, further increasing her reputation. She assumed a temporary hiatus in late 2017 to early 2018 when she made her acting comeback in the movie Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox. 2015 * Night ''as Eun Tae-hee * ''#Whatever S1 as Lina Kim * Your Smile ''as Seo Ah-yeong (Web series) '''2016' * The Temptress as teenage Nicole Choi * #Whatever S2 as Lina Kim * Idol School as Jung Tae-yeon * A Love Untold ''(Movie) as Li Eun-ji * ''Dead Trigger ''as Cho Min-ji '''2017' * i*ZONE as Lee Eun-ji * Love You Until Forever as Park Ji-sun 2018 * Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox (Movie) as Kang Shi-yeon/Gumiho * The Other as Cho Ji-won 2019 * Crazy Rich Girlfriend ''as Jessica Park Trivia * Ih-ja once collaborated with Cloud Nine and the result was the album [[Cloud Nine/Discography#Touch of Heaven|''Touch of Heaven]], released January 12, 2019. * Her stage name Ella was created when Ih-ja was mistakenly called Ella by a tourist from the Philippines. * Ih-ja's faceclaim is from Song Hye-kyo, a popular South Korean actress. 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